Making Informed Hiring Decisions

Steps to Prevent Rehiring Employees with History of Unsatisfactory Performance

1. Check the Appointment System to Obtain UW Work History – BEFORE Making Offer

All departments should have access to APPR on 3270. Before making an offer, the department should check APPR to see if the person has a UW work history or if he/she has listed a complete work history on their resume. It is not unusual for an applicant to omit from a resume short periods of employment. If there are such omissions, the candidate should be asked why it was omitted. Other information that might suggest further follow-up is needed includes but is not limited to: frequent job hopping, recent resignation, termination, appointments of short duration, etc. This additional information should be shared with the supervisor for consideration.

While departments may not have access to APPI (which shows the reason for the termination of an appointment) for employees outside of their department, all divisions do have such access. Departments should contact their division HR person to ask them to check APPI for the reasons why appointments ended.

If you do not already have APPR or APPI access, you can obtain the Authorization form at http://www.doit.wisc.edu/restricted/authorization/forms/3270Authorization.pdf. Upon completion, it should be submitted to Emuye Asfaw, 166 Bascom Hall.

2. Check References

Unlike stocks, past performance is generally the best predictor of future performance; therefore reference checks are essential to hiring the best candidates.

The three biggest problems in this area are:

• failure to contact references,
• ineffective reference checks, and
• only checking the references given by the candidate

While references are sometimes unreliable (with biases for and against employees), it is still an essential part of the selection process. Too often UW-Madison employers forego references, rely only on written references or conduct poor reference checks. Here are a few tips.

3. Classified Employees Terminated For Cause

Classified employees who are fired due to work rule violations are not eligible for reinstatement. Such employees may take an exam and apply again as a new hire, and they frequently do this. Of course, your employing unit may decide not to offer a job to an employee who has previously been terminated for work rule violations based on the employment history or reference checks.

In addition, if an individual was terminated from a permanent classified position due to work rule violations from the University, your employing unit can pursue removal of the candidate from the employment register. For more information, discuss the situation with your Classified Human Resources Office contact. However, this step may not be necessary if you merely decide, based on the employment history and reference checks, to not offer the position.

4. Reference Tips

The principles that apply to interview questions also apply to reference questions: ask only work-related questions; ask the same or similar questions for all candidates; ask open-ended questions, not those that can be answered Yes/No.

Before asking questions, briefly describe the position for which the person applied. Be respectful of the person’s time and limit to questions to those you think are most important.

Sample Questions (select based on type of job you are filling):
5. Appropriate and Inappropriate Interview Questions

Appropriate and inappropriate interview questions are provided in Appendix 4-D of this document.

6. Questions

If you have any questions about this document, contact:

Kathy Stella for classified employees: 2-3927
Steve Lund for unclassified employees: 3-5772
Emuye Asfaw for APPR/APPI access: 3-4972

Prepared by UW-Madison Office of Human Resources